Dr Marco Vasconcelos

Dr. Marco Vasconcelos
Tel: +44 1865 271171
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I completed my PhD in Psychology at Purdue University (USA) under the supervision of Professor Peter J. Urcuioli. Over the years I explored a variety of issues in the general field of comparative cognition, such as interval timing (with Professor Armando Machado at the University of Minho, Portugal), transitive inference, state-dependent learning, contrast and acquired equivalence (all with Professor Peter J. Urcuioli).

Currently, I am interested in the study of choice and decision-making both in human and nonhuman animals. My experimental work involves individual starlings in computer-controlled environments, where reward and stimulus conditions are manipulated to understand the rules animals follow as they adapt to these changes.

Although behavioural ecologists and psychologists emphasise different questions about behaviour, their fields are intrinsically related and data and theory from one field can often illuminate issues being studied in the other. My goal is to be able to use both mechanistic and normative models to develop a general theory of decision-making applicable to a wide variety of species.

Publications

Nairne, J. S., Vasconcelos, M., Pandeirada, J. N. S. (in press). Adaptive memory and learning. In N. M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. London: Springer.

Aw, J., Vasconcelos, & Kacelnik, A. (2011). How costs affect preferences: Experiments on state-dependence, hedonic state and within-trial contrast in starlings. Animal Behaviour, 81, 1117-1128.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. (2011). Associative symmetry in a spatial sample-response paradigm. Behavioural Processes, 86, 305-315.

Kacelnik, A., Vasconcelos, M., Monteiro, T., & Aw, J. (2011). Darwin’s ‘Tug-of-War’ vs. Starlings’ ‘Horse-Racing’: how adaptations for sequential encounters drive simultaneous choice. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65, 547-558.

Vasconcelos, M., Monteiro, T., Aw, J., & Kacelnik, A. (2010). Choice in multi-alternative environments: A trial-by-trial implementation of the Sequential Choice Model. Behavioural Processes,84, 435-439.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. J. (2009). Extensive training is insufficient to produce the work-ethic effect in pigeons. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 91, 143-152.

Urcuioli, P. J., & Vasconcelos, M. (2008). On the origins of emergent differential sample behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 90, 61-80.

Vasconcelos, M. (2008). Transitive inference in non-human animals: An empirical and theoretical analysis. Behavioural Processes, 78, 313-334.

Urcuioli, P. J., & Vasconcelos, M. (2008). Effects of within-class differences in sample responding on acquired sample equivalence. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 89, 341-358.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. J. (2008). Certainties and mysteries in the within-trial contrast literature: A reply to Zentall (2008). Learning & Behavior, 36, 23-25.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. J. (2008). Deprivation level and choice in pigeons: A test of within-trial contrast. Learning & Behavior, 36, 12-18.

Vasconcelos, M., Urcuioli, P. J., & Lionello-DeNolf, K. M. (2007). When is a failure to replicate not a Type II error? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 87, 405-407.

Vasconcelos, M., Urcuioli, P. J., & Lionello-DeNolf, K. M. (2007). Failure to replicate the work-ethic effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 87, 383-399.

Vasconcelos, M., & Albuquerque, P. B. (2006). Dissociações entre tarefas de memória: Evidência para uma distinção entre as memórias implícita e explícita. Análise Psicológica, 24, 519-532.

Urcuioli, P. J., Lionello-DeNolf, K., Michalek, S., & Vasconcelos, M. (2006). Some tests of response membership in acquired equivalence classes. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 86, 81-107.

Machado, A., & Vasconcelos, M. (2006). Acquisition versus steady state in the time-left experiment. Behavioural Processes, 71, 172-187.

Selected Presentations

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. Proprioceptive sample stimuli and associative symmetry in pigeons. Fall Meeting of the Comparative Cognition Society held at Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Chicago, IL.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. Emergent differential sample behavior: Acquired sample equivalence, adventitious reinforcement, or symmetry? 21th Annual Tri-State+ Conference on Animal Learning & Behavior. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. On the origins of emergent differential sample behavior. 15th Annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition. Melbourne, FL.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. State-dependent learning in pigeons. Joint Meeting of the Experimental Psychology Society and the Psychonomic Society. Edinburgh, Scotland.

Urcuioli, P., & Vasconcelos, M. Within-class differences in sample responding can preclude acquired sample equivalence pigeons’ many-to-one matching. 33rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis. San Diego, California.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. Sunk cost and initial investment in pigeons. 79th Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. Chicago, IL.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. Energetic state during learning and choice in pigeons. 20th Annual Tri-State Conference on Animal Learning & Behavior. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. The role of initial investment in the sunk cost effect in pigeons. 14th Annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition. Melbourne, FL.

Vasconcelos, M. On the elusive “work ethic” phenomenon. 19th Annual Tri-State Conference on Animal Learning & Behavior. IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN.

Vasconcelos, M., Michalek, S., & Urcuioli, P. “Work Ethic” and the anticipation of effort. 13th Annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition. Melbourne, FL.

Michalek, S., Vasconcelos, M., & Urcuioli, P. The effects of partial reinforcement on the ambiguous cue effect. 13th Annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition. Melbourne, FL.

Vasconcelos, M. & Albuquerque, P. M. Disentangling memory systems from memory processes: What dissociations reveal. 14th Meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology. Leiden, The Netherlands.

Machado, A. & Vasconcelos, M. Acquisition vs. steady-state in the time-left procedure. 31st Annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis. Chicago, IL.

Vasconcelos, M. & Machado, A. Time-left: A new descriptive model. 18th Annual Tri-State Plus Conference on Animal Learning, Behavior, and Cognition. University of Windsor, Canada.

Vasconcelos, M. & Machado, A. Acquisition vs. steady-state in the time-left procedure. 76th Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. Chicago, IL.

Vasconcelos, M. & Machado, A. Prospective timing: acquisition vs. steady-state. First Portuguese Forum of Experimental Psychology. Braga, Portugal.

Vasconcelos, M. & Albuquerque, P. Dissociations among memory tasks: evidence for a distinction between implicit and explicit memory. First Portuguese Forum of Experimental Psychology. Braga, Portugal.